![]() Classified as a semi-metal, silicon is a semiconductor, a property that determines some of its most important uses.Īs its two allotropic forms might suggest, silicon is a metalloid. Silicon is a relatively hard element with a hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale. The melting point of the crystalline allotrope is about 2,570 ☏ (1,410 ☌), its boiling point is about 4,270 ☏ (2,355 ☌), and its density is 1.35 ounces per cubic inch (2.33 grams per cubic centimeter). The other allotrope is an amorphous brown powder. Silicon exists in two allotropic forms, one of which consists of shiny, grayish black needle-like or crystal plates. ![]() The crustal composition is three-quarters oxygen and silicon. By about 3.5 billion years ago, the outermost layer had cooled to a crustal surface. While still molten lighter atoms -including silicon and oxygen (atomic weights 28 and 16), moved outward from the core region, while the heavier iron atoms ( atomic weight 56) dominated the central core. In rough terms, the Earth is essentially a spheroid of iron (the core) surrounded by layers (the mantle and the crust) of silicon and oxygen dominated compounds that include the other elements.Įarth was originally a molten ball of mostly iron, oxygen, silicon and aluminum that cooled. In terms of weight, silicon is the second most abundant element in the crust of Earth at 27.7% - second only to oxygen (46.6%). The conductive properties of silicon allow micro-devices to perform millions of calculations per second. Silicon, is a key component of microchips and microprocessors that allow the construction of inexpensive digital wristwatch to worldwide networks of computers. Silicon consists of three stable isotopes of mass numbers 28, 29 and 30. It exists also in two amorphous (shapeless) forms, a brown powder and a black crystal. In its crystalline form of dark gray crystals, it has a specific gravity of 2.42 at 68 ☏ (20 ☌), a melting point of 2,588 ☏ (1,420 ☌) and a boiling point 5,936 ☏ (3,280 ☌). The seventh most abundant element in the universe, silicon is the second element in Group 14 of the periodic table. Silicon is the chemical element of atomic number 14, symbol Si and atomic weight 28.085. ![]()
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